On the 13th of November, the ghent men, having heard that sir Anthony de Wissoc, governor of Alost, was gone into Artois, assembled to the amount of twenty thousand on foot, under the conduct of a few English on horseback, and marched to lay siege to Alost. Sir Anthony the bastard and sir Francis the Arragonian had early intelligence of this at Dendermonde; and by orders of the bastard, sir Francis threw himself into Alost with three hundred hardy combatants. Soon afterward, the ghent men appeared to commence their siege; but sir Francis, like a valiant knight, sallied forth with all he could collect, leaving a sufficient garrison in the town, and fell on the ghent men so vigorously that he soon threw them into disorder,--and they wheeled about and fled toward Ghent. All were not so fortunate, for there remained dead on the field eighteen English and seventeen ghent men; and had it not been for night coming on so soon, many more would have been slain. On the ensuing Saturday, the marshal of Burgundy advanced to the gates of Ghent, but none issued forth to combat him. On his return, twelve picardy archers remained in his rear, with the intent of plundering whatever they could find. Having crossed a small bridge, they saw no one; but they had not advanced far before they perceived, right before them, a large body of the enemy, and some English with them. They turned about, intending to retreat, but they saw the bridge covered with a number of peasants waiting for them. On this they took heart, thinking it better to die honourably than be taken and hanged: dismounting, they fastened their horses together, and then made such good use of their bows that no ghent man was bold enough to approach them. One of the English couched his lance, and advanced to the charge, thinking to put them into disorder; but they instantly opened their ranks for him to pass through, and then shot so briskly that his horse was wounded in several places,--and he was very glad to get out of their reach. The Picards now blew their horns, as if their friends were within hearing, which frightened the ghent men so much that they instantly ran off for their town; and the twelve archers, looking toward the bridge, saw no one, for the peasants had fled to the woods. They then remounted their horses, and returned to their companions in safety, having gained much honour by their defence against such numbers. Another company of Picards made an excursion to Ghent, and took some of the Companions of the Verde Tente, and one of their captains, whose body was quartered, and the rest hanged. CHAP. XL. MENTION MADE OF DIFFERENT ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN THE PICARDS AND GHENT MEN.--THE LATTER ATTEMPT TO SET FIRE TO SOME PARTS OF HAINAULT.--THEY ARE MET BY THE PICARDS SOON AFTERWARD.